Join Us in Our Fight Against Child Poverty
We want all our children to have the resources they need to thrive, whether that is with regards to health care, education, economic supports, or a safe home and community environment. Yet, poverty throws constant obstacles in the path of many of our children and their families in getting to that goal.
That is why we are asking for your support in our efforts to have the Illinois General Assembly pass a refundable state child tax credit this spring. A state child tax credit would not only bring greater economic security to families across the state but greater racial equity.
Illinois is not a poor state. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Illinois ranked fifth in terms of state Gross Domestic Product in the United States in 2022. Illinois also had a child poverty rate of 15.7% in 2022. (or nearly 425,000 children). That means more than one in seven children living in our state risks being in a household where there is not enough money to pay the rent or put three solid meals on the table every day.
The Census Bureau numbers show Black and Latinx children are at far greater risk with the child poverty rate for Black Illinois children four times higher than that of white/non-Latinx Illinois children (36.1% vs 9.0%) and the child poverty rate for Latinx children (18.7%) at more than twice the rate for white/non-Latinx children.
Repeated studies have shown household poverty impacts a child’s brain development, physical health, and mental health. It also impacts a child’s ability to learn, which is stated clearly by our own State Board of Education on its website (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Children-Living-in-Poverty.aspx):
